Dental

Root Canal Treatment

Pain relief and tooth preservation by treating infected pulp — often completed in a single visit under magnification.

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Often a single visit

45–90 minutes

Local anaesthesia

Crown needed afterwards

Root canal treatment removes infected or inflamed pulp from inside a tooth, disinfects and shapes the canals, and seals them — relieving pain and saving a tooth that would otherwise need extraction.

Signs you may need one

Lingering sensitivity to hot or cold, pain on chewing, spontaneous night pain, a darkening tooth, or a recurring pimple on the gum near a tooth.

What to expect

Treatment is carried out under local anaesthesia and is generally no more uncomfortable than a routine filling. Performed under magnification, many cases are completed in a single sitting. The tooth is usually protected with a crown afterwards to restore full chewing strength.

You may need this if

Pain that lingers after hot or cold, rather than passing quickly
Pain on biting, or spontaneous pain that wakes you at night
A tooth that has darkened compared to its neighbours
A recurring pimple or swelling on the gum near a tooth

Not sure whether this applies to you? Call and describe the problem — we will tell you honestly.

What treatment involves

Anaesthesia and isolation

The tooth is numbed properly and isolated with a rubber dam so the canals stay clean and nothing is swallowed.

Cleaning the canals

The infected pulp is removed and the canals shaped and disinfected — done under magnification so no canal is missed.

Sealing

The canals are filled and sealed to prevent bacteria re-entering, and the tooth is closed with a core filling.

Protecting the tooth

A crown is fitted, usually at a following visit, to stop the now-brittle tooth from fracturing.

Why it is worth doing

Immediate pain relief Removing the infected pulp settles the pain that brought you in.

Saves the natural tooth Keeps your own tooth instead of extracting and replacing it.

Careful canal work Canals are located and cleaned accurately, which is what improves long-term success.

Often a single visit Many cases are completed in one sitting rather than several.

Aftercare

Tenderness for a few days is normal — take the medication prescribed
Avoid chewing hard food on the tooth until the crown is fitted
Do not delay the crown; it is what makes the treatment last

Questions

Root Canal Treatment — FAQs

Is a root canal painful?

The procedure is done under local anaesthesia and is generally no more uncomfortable than having a filling. The pain people associate with root canals is usually the infection beforehand, which the treatment relieves.

Do I really need a crown afterwards?

In most cases yes. A treated tooth becomes more brittle, and a crown protects it from fracturing under chewing force. Skipping it is the commonest reason a successful root canal later fails.

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